Monday storms pass through local area with minimal damage

Tuesday

May 21, 2013 at 10:00 AMMay 21, 2013 at 10:54 AM

Michael Pinedamichael.pineda@ardmoreite.com

It was a topsy-turvy day for Ardmore residents who spent their day and evening preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Two tornado watches were registered and three tornado warnings. Head­ing into Monday evening, no tornados were reported but there was one possible sighting. Damage was also reported in the Gene Autry area from heavy winds.

The report of a cloud for­mation was the closest call for Ardmore residents, who heard the sirens go off just before 6 p.m. County storm watchers outside of Lone Grove sighted the forma­tion.

Wilson also said there was a report of a roof blown off a barn in Lone Grove. A lightning strike at the library was also reported.

Paul Tucker, Carter County Emergency Man­agement Coordinator, said the cloud formation in Lone Grove was an SLC (scary-looking cloud) for­mation and there was no rotation.

“Our guys were out there and saw it,” Tucker said. “It never hit the ground.” The first tornado warn­ing was issued early in the day and affected the Ratliff City and Tatums area. The storm passed through and a tornado was later reported from the storm passing on Interstate-35 between Paoli and Pauls Valley.

The second tornado warning was a result of the storm coming in through Lone Grove and the third was for the southern part of the county as well as Love County. The storm that damaged Gene Autry headed for Johnston County. The county emergency office reported several vehicles caught in down power lines but no other damage of significance.

At 8 p.m. Monday night, OG&E reported 2,136 customers in Mannsville without power. There were also 436 in Ardmore and 141 in Tishomingo. In Moore, 18,515 were without power following its catastrophic tornado.